Part of 1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education – in the Senedd at 1:44 pm on 8 February 2017.
Well, I certainly don’t undervalue the contribution that learning support workers bring to the Welsh education system. Many classroom teachers and headteachers tell me that their schools would not function as well as they do without the ability of those individuals in their schools to help, especially in the foundation phase. This Government is committed to expanding the number of higher level qualified learning support assistants because we value them. Only last week, we passed the regulations with regard to their registration with the Education Workforce Council. We regard them as important, that’s why we want them to be a registered profession, that’s why we are supporting them by lowering their fees for registration, and they will be an important part of how we plan the workforce for our schools and colleges going forward.